MS Dhoni held himself back in batting order and CSK paid the price for that: Aakash Chopra

Chennai Super Kings, on Tuesday, suffered a 16-run defeat against Rajasthan Royals after failing to hunt down a challenging target of 217 runs. The match was an exhibition of boundaries as fans witnessed 33 sixes– most in an IPL game– during the course of the match which took place at Sharjah.

Royals’ laid the foundation of a hefty total with Sanju Samson slamming a scintillating 32-ball 74. He was also assisted by skipper Steve Smith, who scored 69 off 47 deliveries to keep the scoreboard ticking. In the end, it was pacer Jofra Archer’s four consecutive sixes which steered RR to a dominant 216-run total.

In reply, CSK lost their openers Shane Watson and Murali Vijay in quick succession to RR spinners – Rahul Tetwatia and Shreyas Gopal. Faf du Plessis hit a defining fifty but CSK’s required rate kept on climbing, resulting in their collapse. A surprising factor in CSK’s run-chase was Dhoni’s demotion in the batting order.

There was some rust and Dhoni needed some time: Aakash Chopra

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran and Kedar Jadhav were pushed ahead of Dhoni at a time when the required run-rate was soaring. Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra, analyzing CSK’s failed run-chase, opined that they paid a heavy price for their captain’s reluctance to come up the order.

“It was okay till Sam Curran but after that, you sent Ruturaj and then Kedar, when will Dhoni come. So Dhoni held himself back for a long time and at the end, they paid the price for that because there was some rust and he needed some time,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

Dhoni eventually finished with 29 off 17 balls, including hitting a hat-trick of sixes in the final over bowled by Sam’s brother Tom Curran. Chopra pointed out that the CSK skipper required a few deliveries to get into his groove. Dhoni had walked in to bat when CSK was reeling at 114/5 after 13/4 overs, requiring 103 runs to win from just 38 deliveries.

“He had scored 10 runs off 13 balls and then later hit three-four sixes, the power is there but he didn’t give himself the time he should have spent in the middle,” he further said.

Chopra concluded by saying that it may have looked like a close match but it was RR who outplayed CSK. “In the end, it seemed like a close match but to be very honest it was a one-sided victory for Rajasthan Royals over the Chennai Super Kings,” Chopra signed off.

Here’s the video: